


Arranged

by prongsdamnyou



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Regency, F/M, jilytober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26984521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prongsdamnyou/pseuds/prongsdamnyou
Summary: James and Lily are forced into an arranged marriage that neither of them want. It’ll work out.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	Arranged

**Author's Note:**

> i’m a slut for arranged marriage au’s so i watched pride and prejudice and then wrote this lol

Lily could only stare at the wall of her room in shock. Not five minutes earlier, her sister Petunia had barged into her room and said, “You should begin packing your things, Lily. Vernon has somehow managed to arrange your marriage to the son of an earl by the name of Lord Potter and you will be staying at the earl’s estate until the wedding. Your carriage leaves tomorrow.”

“What?”, Lily asked dumbly. She might’ve thought Petunia was joking, but Petunia had disapproved of jokes since they were kids. ‘It’s unladylike, Lily, she would always say whenever Lily tried to make her laugh. Lily thought that was utter rubbish.

“Yes, I was quite shocked as well. I mean, what in the world would an earl want with you? I suppose he and his wife must have liked something about you at the Prewett’s ball last month.”

Lily’s brain was finally catching up to what was happening. “Vernon’s gotten me engaged? He can’t do that! Besides, I’m only 19!”, she protested.

“Your new fiance is also 19 so that won’t be a problem and you know very well that he can do that. There’s nothing you can do about it at this point so don’t go wasting your breath whining”, Petunia said in a pedantic tone she knew Lily hated.

What followed was a great deal of shouting between the two sisters until Vernon came to see what the ruckus was. He informed Lily that yes, she was getting married whether she liked it or not, and yes, she was leaving tomorrow. At that, Vernon and Petunia left her room.

Lily couldn’t believe it. Her brother in law had married her off to some random person without even telling her. Well actually, she could believe it, because Vernon was an evil whale who had always hated her. Ever since he’d married Petunia, he’d made no secret of the fact that he disliked her. And when Lily’s parents died, he got even worse. He had inherited their estate because women couldn’t own property and the Evans family had no male heir. He always let it be known that he resented the fact that inheriting the estate had meant essentially inheriting Lily.

So yes, Lily could definitely believe that Vernon had married her off. But she still couldn’t believe Petunia had let him. Despite the highly antagonistic relationship she now had with her sister, Lily had hoped that at least in this matter, Petunia would show some sympathy.

When Lily and Petunia had been children, one of their favorite games to play was to imagine what their weddings would be like. Even as they grew apart as they got older, they would still occasionally talk about some of the little details they wanted.  
When ‘The charming Mr. Dursley’ began courting Petunia, Lily had heartily disapproved. But when Petunia announced their engagement, Lily had done her best to be happy for her. She had hoped that Petunia might return this sentiment by allowing her to search for a husband on her own. 

For once in his worthless life, Vernon was right about something. Lily had absolutely no choice in this and it infuriated her. She allowed herself a brief moment to wallow in self-pity before she began packing.

x.x.x.x.x

The following day, many miles away, just outside of Brighton, James Potter was in a similar state of shock to the one Lily had just found herself in. 

“This can’t be real. I must have dreamt that entire conversation.”, he said to Sirius, his best friend.

“It most definitely is not a dream. I witnessed it all.”, Sirius replied in a jovial tone that did not match James’ mood at all.

“Sirius, my parents just told me they’ve gone and gotten me engaged to some girl who I’ve never met and who probably only agreed to this because I have money. And, apparently, she’ll be arriving here this afternoon. Why in the world are you smiling?”, James asked incredulously.

“Because it’s bloody hilarious that’s why. Your whole life your parents have let you do just about whatever you want and then out of nowhere, they tell you you’re getting married. They know they can’t control you so they’re pawning you off onto some poor bird who has no idea what she’s in for. How is that not funny?” Sirius chuckled.

James had to admit that if it was another person he’d probably be laughing too. But as it was not another person, James was a bit cross at Sirius. “You’re just as bad as I am.” 

“Ah, but your parents can’t arrange a marriage for me because I am not their son.”, Sirius replied.

“You might as well be. You get all the benefits and none of the drawbacks. You live here, they feed you, they don’t force you into marriages with strangers. The perfect life.”, James said, “Although I suspect that even if they could, they wouldn’t. I don’t think they’d be willing to inflict you upon an innocent person.”

“No, I expect you’re right. They would never do that.”

They sat in silence for a moment before James asked in a scared sort of tone, “Do you think she’ll be terrible?”

“Who?”

“My fiance.”

“You having a fiance is going to take some getting used to.”, Sirius barked out with a laugh, “Though your parents rather like you so they probably haven’t picked a troll.”

It was at this moment that Euphemia Potter, James’ mother, barged into the room. “For god’s sake, James, smarten yourself up. Your hair is a mess and your clothes are rumpled. You want to make a good impression.”

“Mum, this is ridiculous. I don’t even know this girl’s name. How can I be engaged to her?”, James pleaded, trying to garner some sympathy from his mother.

“Oh, nonsense. Your father and I had never met before we got engaged and we couldn’t be any happier.”, now that she had completed her task of berating James into making himself look presentable, she made to exit the room. But before she left, she said, “Oh, and her name is Lily Evans.”, and with that, she closed the door and was gone.

Sirius furrowed his brow. “Evans… Evans... where have I heard that name before?”, he asked.

James was determinedly staring at the floor and hoping Sirius wouldn’t notice the red that was creeping up his face. Unfortunately for James, Sirius did notice, and it jogged his memory.

“Wait a second,” Sirius said, and his face lit up, “Is that the girl you stared at the whole night at the Prewett’s ball last month?” James ignored his question and began smoothing out his tailcoat.

“Oh this is brilliant!”, Sirius guffawed, “You’re so hopeless that your parents knew you’d never make a move, so they had to do it for you!”, Sirius was practically crying with laughter at this point and James couldn’t even blame him, so he just remained silent and, now that he felt his tailcoat and trousers looked decent, began trying to tame his hair. James was saved from more embarrassment at the hands of Sirius when his mother called from downstairs, announcing that his fiance’s carriage was arriving. 

He left his room with Sirius following him and descended the stairs to go out and greet her. He could feel his palms growing sweaty with nervousness as he saw her carriage pulling to a stop. It would have been so much easier if this was some random girl he had never met before, but it was not. It was Lily Evans, who had looked absolutely stunning when he had seen her at the ball. He hadn’t had the courage to talk to her that time, but now he didn’t have a choice. 

She stepped out of the carriage with the help of Frank, the manservant, and James found it very difficult to think straight. She was wearing a simple green gown that matched her eyes, and her dark red hair was in a loose bun. He thought she looked perfect.

“Hullo”, James said awkwardly, before Sirius elbowed him in the ribs and he remembered to bow.

“Hello, I’m Lily Evans”, Lily replied with a curtsy.

“James Potter”, James wasn’t sure what to do after this and he was about to make some inane comment about the weather before his mother saved him,

“Come this way Miss Evans, let’s all get inside. Frank will show you to your rooms.”, Euphemia beckoned

“I think I’ll go to the library.”, Sirius declared after they were gone. “Fleamont always tells us we should read more.”

“What?”, James asked in confusion, “Since when have you ever cared when my father tells us to read more. You usually laugh at him.”

“Well I reckon I ought to give you a bit of time to get to know Miss Evans and I figure I’ll be out of the way there.”

“Oh. Thanks, I guess.”, James said. Though privately he was not all that thankful because he would’ve liked some backup to make sure he didn’t make a fool of himself.

Without saying anything else, Sirius went inside to go to the library and James was left alone with his anxieties about whether he’d made a poor first impression. It occurred to him that only an hour earlier, he hadn’t been anxious about looking stupid, he’d been very angry about this whole situation. That had been much easier. Anger didn’t come with all the self-doubt that anxiety had. With anger, he could blame his problems on other people. And just like that, the anger was back. 

He decided that he no longer cared if his mother expected him to wait for Lily to return because ranting to Sirius about how much he hated his life would make him feel better. He started walking to the library, all the while thinking thoughts like ‘Stupid parents, making me get married’, ‘Stupid gorgeous Lily Evans, making me forget that I don’t want to get married’, and other typical angsty teenage thoughts. It felt good to project his problems onto other people. Even if letting resentment for his future wife grow inside him wasn’t a great idea, James didn’t much care at the moment. As he was rounding a corner, he ran right into Lily Evans herself. 

“Oof!”, he exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry! I was looking at the walls instead of where I was going”, Lily apologized with an embarrassed smile. “You have a gorgeous home.”

“Yeah. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”, He muttered in an ornery tone that he immediately regretted. ‘What are you doing?!’, he thought to himself, ‘You weren’t supposed to say the angry thoughts out loud!’

“What?”, Lily’s smile faltered.

But instead of apologizing like a decent person normally would, James doubled down. “I’m rich.”, he said simply, “That’s why you agreed to this.”

“Excuse me?”, Lily’s face was flushed, “You think I agreed to this? You think I wanted this? I don’t care about money. I would never have married for money. Especially if it meant being trapped in a marriage with someone as arrogant as you. God, I can’t believe this is my life now.” And with that, she stormed off the way James had come.

“Nice going, mate”, Sirius said. The library was just across the hall from where James was standing so Sirius probably heard all of that. 

“Oh, what did I just do?” James wondered despairingly.

“Well,” Sirius said with a smirk, “it seems like you just called your fiance a gold digger.

“That was a rhetorical question.” 

“I don’t care.”

James walked into the library and sat at the table. “Well what do I do now?”, he wondered.

“Don’t ask me.”, Sirius shrugged, “I’ve never done that before so I have no idea where you go from here.”

“I reckon I should apologise”

“Okay”

“‘Okay’”, James repeated, “That’s it? No advice? No words of encouragement? Thanks, mate, I appreciate the support.” 

“Oh,” Sirius said, “I mean, good luck, James. You can do this. I believe in you. When the going gets tough, the tough get-”

“Oh for god’s sake, please shut up.” James begged exasperatedly.

“But James, I thought you wanted words of encouragement.”, Sirius replied innocently.

James just put his head in his hands.

x.x.x.x.x

Lily sat on a bench overlooking the pond behind Potter Manor. The sound of the birds chirping and the wind rustling the trees made a good environment for thinking. Truly, the estate was magnificent. She had been astounded when she arrived and saw the sprawling grounds. The manor itself was a stony grey color and had multiple wings, each with at least three floors. She’d never seen a house so big in her life. The grounds around the manor were even more impressive. In front, where she had arrived, was a large lawn adorned with topiary. Behind the manor, was another large lawn, but behind that was a wooded area that surrounded a pond. 

She reflected on the day, it had not been a good one. She had been ousted from the home where she’d grown up, been stuck in a carriage for several hours, and then the man she was being forced to marry had accused her of wanting all of this to happen because she wanted his money.

The only real bright spots had been her soon-to-be mother-in-law, who seemed to like Lily, and her rooms, which were comfortable and secluded enough that she hoped to be able to avoid people when she wanted to. Lily had never had that much space to herself before. 

When she arrived, she had been surprised to see that James Potter had actually been fit! That had pleased her because her imaginary version of her forced fiance had been of a hideous troll. She had assumed Vernon would endeavor to make her as unhappy as possible. 

And at first, he hadn’t seemed like the arrogant arse she had been expecting. He’d been awkward, but not at all rude until they’d bumped into each other in the hall. Lily felt a little guilty about that brief interaction now. Sure, it had been rude of him to accuse her of marrying for money, but it had been a fair assumption to make. Lots of people did that. And it was clear to her now that James had about as much choice in this whole situation as she did.

So maybe he had been a bit rude, but she definitely hadn’t needed to say what she said. He hadn’t even been that arrogant, she’d just projected all the things she’d been expecting of him onto him. She supposed that part of her problem had been that she had not been anticipating feeling such a strong desire to run her hands through his messy black hair. And he had looked so cute and dorky with his glasses, he kept having to push them back up his nose. 

As she was pondering the issues of fancying someone when you had essentially just told them you hate them, she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat beside her. “Erm, hullo Miss Evans”, she heard James say. She very nearly fell off the bench in fright.

“Oh”, she said in a tone that she hoped was dignified and not too shrill, “Hello, Mr. Potter. How, umm, nice to see you.” She mentally cringed at how sarcastic she sounded. She’d have to apologise for what she said earlier now.

“Yeah, about that.”, James began, “I’m really sorry about what I said earlier.”

“What?” Lily inquired. She hadn’t expected this.

“Yeah,” James rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I was being a bit of a prat. I should’ve realized you have as little choice in this as I do. You were very nice and then I just accused you of wanting this for my money. I should’ve tried to make this easier on you and I made it way harder. I reckon, if we’re getting married, we ought to try to be friends.” 

“You don’t need to apologise”

“What? Why? I was an arse.”

“Yeah, a bit,”, she allowed, “But I was so much worse. If I were in your situation I probably would’ve made the same assumption. Then I went and called you arrogant.”

“Oh that was fine.”, James waved it off, “I deserved it. But, if we’re all good now, can we be friends, Miss Evans?”

“I reckon we can, Mr. Potter.” She said with a wry smile, “Feels a bit weird using surnames. Mind if I call you James?”

“As long as I can call you Lily.”

x.x.x.x.x

The next month was one of the best Lily could remember. One of the perks of being the son of an earl, she found, was that even at the age of 19 you could pretty much do whatever you want, whenever you wanted to. So James, Lily, and Sirius spent their time just having fun with each other. She was finally somewhere where she didn’t have to worry about being scolded for making a joke. James laughed especially hard whenever she joked and she decided that he was at his most attractive when he was laughing.

The only downside to this wonderful month had been that while Lily was sure that she was falling irrevocably in love with James, he hadn’t given her the slightest sign that he felt the same way. Sirius had taken to making suggestive comments whenever James and Lily were alone together and they always made James supremely uncomfortable. It made Lily wonder if the thought of actually being with Lily, rather than just legally being married, was so appalling to him. She hoped not, because along with hurting her feelings, it would make for a very awkward marriage. 

Her feelings were beginning to overwhelm her though and she felt that if she didn’t tell someone she might burst. She didn’t want to tell James because if he was as appalled by the idea as he looked when Sirius made his jokes, it would make things very difficult between them and Lily would hate that. She couldn’t tell Sirius. He would laugh at her, because he was always laughing at everything, and then he would immediately tell James. There was someone she could tell though, she thought, it might be awkward, but at least she wouldn’t feel like she was bursting anymore.

James’ mother Euphemia had taken to inviting Lily to lunch with her every Saturday and it was at one of these lunches that Lily told Euphemia of her feelings. “Fleamont really does love horses.”, Euphemia was saying, “Why, just last week he was-”

“I’m in love with your son”, Lily blurted out.

“Oh”

‘This was a terrible idea’, thought Lily, ‘Why did I think it would be a good idea to confess my feelings for a boy to that boy’s mother?’

“I, uh, just thought I should, you know, tell someone”, Lily said lamely

“Have you told him?”, Euphemia asked

“Um… no.”

Euphemia’s eyebrows went up at this. “Why not?”

“Because I’m sure he doesn’t feel the same and it would make things terribly awkward if I told him.” Now Euphemia was laughing, though Lily didn’t see what was so funny.

“Oh dear,” She said through her chuckles. “You’re getting married to the boy. Why would that make him uncomfortable?”

Lily just muttered something about awkwardness.

“You should know if you are worried about how he feels, that James has fancied you something awful since the Prewett’s ball.”

“Really?” Lily asked, her eyes widening.

“Oh yes. He stared at you practically the whole night. I’m afraid Sirius has been giving him a dreadfully hard time about it.”

“Oh”, was all Lily could say.

“Yes,” Euphemia remarked, “I expect Sirius would be very pleased if you would tell James soon because apparently, James has been whining to Sirius about unrequited love for the past month.”

Lily stood up to go tell James before remembering that it would be rude to walk out in the middle of lunch. She made to sit down again but Euphemia said, “Oh go on then. No sense in waiting.”

Lily blushed, thanked her, then left. Quickly, she made her way through the enormous house to where she hoped James would be. She got to the sitting room nearest to his rooms and found Sirius reading on a couch. 

“Do you know where James is?”, she asked. Hoping that she sounded nonchalant and not terribly anxious.

“Why? Come to have your wicked way with him?”, Sirius asked with his signature smirk.  
Lily fought a losing battle against her blush. “I just want to talk to him.”

“He’s in his room,” Sirius said, “Do you two need a chaperone?”

Lily just rolled her eyes, then made her way to James’ bedroom. She knocked on the door and heard him say, “Come in.”

“Hi”, she said as she opened the door.

“Oh,” James said, surprised, “You’re not Sirius”

“Would Sirius have knocked?”

James smiled, “Good point.”

“So,” Lily began, “I have a question.”

“Hopefully I have an answer then”

Lily looked at him for just a second, before asking, “Do you love me?”

James’ grin turned to a look of shock and he made a sound like he was choking, “W-what?”

“Do you love me?”, she repeated. This time more shyly. She was starting to doubt whether or not Euphemia had been right about her son’s feelings.

“Erm, yes” James murmured.

Lily’s hopes soared. “What was that?.”

“Yes,” James said again, “I love you. I’m in love with you. I’m sorry I didn’t want to tell you because I knew it would make you uncom-mphhh”

Lily cut James’ rambling apology off by stepping towards him and kissing him. It took a second for him to respond but soon his hands were at her waist and he was kissing back with enthusiasm. Lily hummed her appreciation and took the opportunity to do what she had wanted to do since she’d met him and ran her hands through his messy black hair. Lily found that she liked doing this very much and she decided she’d be doing much more of it more of it in the future.

Eventually, James pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. He was breathing heavily and the only word he could manage was “What?”. Lily just kissed him again. ‘Life is good’, she thought.

x.x.x.x.x

Downstairs in the sitting room, Sirius wondered why James and Lily hadn’t come down yet. He was bored with his book so he decided to head up and ask if they’d like to play a game. When he got to the door, he barged right in because he never knocked. “Hey, do you lot want to- Oh!”

He walked in to find James and Lily pressed up against each other, decidedly not talking. When they heard him they jumped apart from each other like they had been shocked. Sirius’s face broke into a wide grin. “I knew you needed a chaperone!”


End file.
